Urban Outfitters Offensive Shirts

Discussion in Fashion & Apparel started by kana_marie • Apr 29, 2015.

  1. kana_marie

    kana_marieActive Member

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    Urban outfitters is taking a lot of heat for offensive t-shirts. One of them says," eat less" and another was has the word "depression"'written all over it... Among others. Will you still buy from them, or will you boycott? As for me, I'll still shop there. I don't believe the brand is to blame if people wear them. I believe the people who wear them are the ones being offensive.
     
  2. hayrake

    hayrakeActive Member

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    I tend to agree with you. The people who choose to wear the so-called "offensive" shirts are the ones to blame. I haven't actually seen the shirts in question and don't know how offensive they might be, but have seen shirts I thought were offensive in my time. And, in the cases where I knew the wearer I'd have to say they knew the shirts were offensive and were proud to wear them anyway.

    On the other hand, there are a lot of things that are said to be offensive these days that just aren't really.
     
  3. Aladar

    AladarWell-Known Member

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    What exactly is offensive at those shirts? The American society really needs to get itself together and stop labelling everything "offensive", "controversial" or whatever else. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the shirts. America is just creating a culture of self entitled victims, really.
     
  4. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    What a load of garbage! It is clear that the "Eat Less" t-shirt has been designed with the increasing rate of obesity in mind. I highly doubt it is intended to encourage anorexia. Let's face it, plenty of people could do with eating less!
     
  5. LeopardJones

    LeopardJonesActive Member

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    I actually started boycotting Urban Outfitters a couple of years ago for different reasons. Admittedly it’s easy for me to boycott them, as I’d have to hop on a plane to get to the nearest one, but I digress. They’re known art thieves. Here’s one of the more egregious examples:

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    I find art theft much more offensive than words or messages on T-shirts. Freedom of speech, right? Wearing such T-shirts is a matter of personal choice. So is my choosing to avoid anyone wearing said T-shirts. UO can sell them as much as they want (well, unless they stole these from someone else as well, hahaha), but if everything in the shop sold like hotcakes EXCEPT for the T-shirts, that would certainly send UO a message, wouldn’t it?
     
  6. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    The t-shirt with the "Depression" statement is a bit odd. They seem to be promoting depression. While the "Eat Less" shirt is harmless in my opinion. But it's really subjective, and the prude ones are the ones mostly offended with such statements. However, I did find pubic hair being included in American Apparel's mannequins obscene:

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  7. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    You don't blame the brand? But they are the ones who purchase the shirts and offer them for sale in their store.
    Urban Outfitters had a culturally insensitive shirt one year that was offensive to Chinese people and it is definitely their fault for having their buyers acquire the shirts to sell in thousands of their stores.
    Who do you think makes these offensive shirts available to buy? The customers who wear the shirts are partly to blame too but Urban Outfitters isn't innocent.
     
  8. Aladar

    AladarWell-Known Member

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    Man, I swear, you people find everything offensive. I'm glad I don't live in America, living in a state where you can't say anything and have to check with everyone if you can wear what you want to wear doesn't sound like much fun at all.
     
  9. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    I'm actually not easily offended and I've worn my share of shirts with curse words.

    But Urban Outfitters had a shirt that said "It's not rape, it's a snuggle." Are you saying that it's cute and justifiable to wear shirts that joke about women being raped? They also have a Kent State sweatshirt with fake blood spatter that makes fun of a school shooting where innocent people died. They also have a shirt with a yellow star on it that looks like the one that Jews were forced to wear in the Holocaust.

    Which of these shirts are you defending? Are you one of the customers who bought the Keep Calm and Rape Them t shirts that were pulled from Amazon? It is NOT okay to just put anything on a t shirt.
     
  10. Zyni

    ZyniWell-Known Member

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    Wow, that goes way beyond what was mentioned in the opening post.

    I'm not easily offended, but I don't find rape to be humorous in any way. There is no joke involving rape that I have found funny. Ever.

    These things go beyond tacky and tasteless. I mean, I'm all for jerks wearing tacky and tasteless junk, because it's like wearing a sign that says, "I'm a jerk." It let's us know to steer clear.

    This though... yeah, no. Rape isn't funny. The Holocaust isn't funny. It takes some sick people to find humor in such things or to overlook such things just to make a buck.

    Edit: on second thought, don't link. It will just give them more hits/attention.
     
  11. Aladar

    AladarWell-Known Member

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    So they made a shirt you don't like. Okay? I don't see why it's your concern to police what other people wear. If they want to wear something that's in poor taste, who are you to tell them they can't? The moral police?
     
  12. kana_marie

    kana_marieActive Member

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    Lol it's shock value. That's all. If you want to wear that shirt that says "it isn't rape, its a snuggle" to a support group for rape victims, that's all on you. But the fact is no one makes anyone buy it. I made my brother a t-shirt for his birthday one year. It said "I found Jesus" on the front. The back had Jesus' head superimposed into the background of a drunk party. No one made him wear it. I didn't feel bad for making it because his opinion was the only one that mattered at my end. I also have one of the biggest collections of dead baby jokes in the country. If I go into an abortion clinic and tell those jokes then that's my bad, not the people who came up with them in the first place.
     
  13. DancingLady

    DancingLadyActive Member

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    I don't think I've ever been to one. Haven't shopped at a mall in years actually. I do find those shirts to be in poor taste because the reality is that those who should be eating less are not going to care about what someone's shirt says. The people who will be affected are the ones already suffering from an eating disorder or a similar unhealthy relationship with food. It's just insensitive to those people to wear that.
     
  14. kana_marie

    kana_marieActive Member

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    It is extremely insensitive! I doubt anybody would argue against that, ( I hope not, anyway). But a lot of things offend a lot of people. If we took out every offensive anything, there isn't going to be very much left. But who are we to tell someone they can't wear what they want to? Someone is going to sell these things, may as well be Urban Outfitters.
     
  15. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    It all depends on what you personally regard as offensive. If I see words like"eat less" on a t-shirt, I can't say that it offends me in any way. It's just a statement, and so is "depression". In my perception, people can wear whatever label they want. If they want to walk around the streets putting their opinions and views out there for everyone to see, so why not let them do it? I always say "everything is in the eye of the beholder".